Endless Paradigm

Lately i have been looking for the chance to trade my macbook (the September 2008 release) with a windows laptop because simply; i just don't like it

now i do not doubt that the macbook itself is a bad computer as the hardware specs are top notch; since i offered it on craigslist to trade for a tablet i came across an offer being given away for one of the HP tablets that are currently on the market with a 3 year warranty

To define my lifestyle (to consider for comparing) I...

-Barely play games on my laptop (WC3 in a blue moon)
-Watch HD movies via 1080p
-Use tablet features
-School is my life
-Art is one of my hobbies; and a tablet looks mighty dandy (also if I'm correct, it has wacom tablet functionality built into these)

Basically, I'm a media junkie (anime,movies, music, etc) so i NEED a computer that can support 1080p playback flawlessly and i want a decent computer that won't lock up on me now and then

The laptop being offered is this:

Product Name

tx2617ca
Product Number

FS122UA#ABC
Microprocessor

2.10 GHz AMD Turion X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Mobile Processor
Microprocessor Cache

1 MB L2 Cache
Memory

4096 MB
Memory Max

Up to 4GB DDR2 (Up to 1 GB may not be available due to 32-bit operating system resource requirements)
Video Graphics

ATI Radeon HD 3200
Video Memory

Up to 1982 MB
Hard Drive

250 GB (5400 rpm)
Multimedia Drive

LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Display

12.1" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Integrated Touch-screen, Convertible Display (1280 x 800)
Fax/Modem

High speed 56K modem
Network Card

Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity

Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n
Sound

Altec Lansing speakers
Keyboard

101-key compatible
Pointing Device

Touch Pad with dedicated vertical and horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad
PC Card Slots

One ExpressCard/34 slot
External Ports

5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
3 Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
2 headphone-out
1 microphone-in
1 notebook expansion port 3
Consumer IR
Integrated Stereo Microphones
Dimensions

8.82"(L) x 12.05"(D) x 1.23" (min H)/1.52" (max H)
Weight

4.56 lbs
Security

Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
Power-on password
Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power

65 W AC Adapter
6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)
What's In The Box

HP Pavilion WebCam with stereo Integrated Microphones

HP Mobile Remote Control


Now to comment, software is NO ISSUE here; only hardware itself is considered

Now to comment and compare; that AMD processor may APPEAR faster than my 2.0Ghz intel core 2 duo found in the macbook BUT it has a measly L2 cache of 1MB!!

The aluminum body macbook i have has 3MB L2 cache, now i don't know if this number is a significant but it is definitely a lot bigger than the AMD cpu

Now going on to RAM; my macbook DOES have 2GB of ram, but seeing how this is DDR3 with 1067 Mhz compared to 4gb of DDR2 800 Mhz; it also comes to mind that if my laptop is more efficient than that older ram

The video cards, now definitely i know 9400M is easily capable of HD playback, the ATI Radeon 3200; I'm not so sure of, but i did hear that it could playback 1080p video. Gameswise it is terrible; which could be a cause for concern in the future

If that was tl;dr then read this part; these laptops are pretty different but they sound worthy of eachother

Pros of the Tablet

-Wacom Tablet functionality built in, Multitouch built in
-Small, easy to use in the classroom
-Windows (sorry mac os x)
-Capable for a tablet pc

Cons of the tablet (compared to the macbook)

-Weaker CPU: 1 MB (2.1 ghz) L2 Cache < 3 MB (2.0 ghz) L2 Cache
-Analog output (double you tee eff, how do i watch hd video with this???)
-Weaker Ram: 4GB DDR2 800 mhz < 2GB DDR3 1067 mhz
-Weaker Graphics Card
-Plastic construction versus aluminum? aluminum wins...

To sum it all up, i just don't know what to choose; i want a capable laptop that can help me in the classroom enviroment, and i also don't want to trade my macbook for utter poo poo. I am a student that only watches videos on my comp and i use the computer in school frequently, so gaming isn't an issue.

So why am i holding back? This laptop is obviously running older and weaker hardware configurations compared to the macbook, does L2 cache and clock speed on ram really make a difference to warrant not to trade? I'm seriously pulled between the two and that's why I'm asking for your guys opinions ;)

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Joomla12 Wrote:Hmm...I might consider this.

Laptop Specs

HP Pavilion dv6607rs
AMD Athalon x64 TK-55
1 GB RAM
nVidia Geforce 7150m
Pioneer LightScribe DVD-RW/DL burner
HP Media Remote (You'll have to find the dribvers...)
Windows 7 x86 Ultimate with Ubuntu 9.10
160 GB Hitachi HDD

It's not exactly what you're looking for I guess  but meh....I don't really have a use for a MacBook except for some better designing experiences and loading it down with Linux.

scuse me, but this offer isn't pointed to anyone here (i deal locally); I'm just asking if it's a good trade

that, and that laptop is DEFINITELY underpowered compared to my macbook; no thanks.

1: Oh...
2: Meh, I would do it I guess. It depends on how much you really want a tablet.

i think id prefer a tablet pc as well over a macbook

+ i don't think the weaker CPU & RAM will really be an issue . nor will the graphics :D

diego is doing amazing stuff with his tablet pc . can't wait to see what you'll come up with

Tetris999 Wrote:Now to comment and compare; that AMD processor may APPEAR faster than my 2.0Ghz intel core 2 duo found in the macbook BUT it has a measly L2 cache of 1MB!!

You don't compare CPUs by clockspeed these days (for example, 3GHz Core2 would be much faster than a 3GHz Athlon X2).  And you definitely don't compare CPUs by how much L2 cache they have.

That being said, the core2 is probably much faster, unless your Turion is one of the new PhenomII based ones (the old ones are Athlon X2 based).

Tetris999 Wrote:The video cards, now definitely i know 9400M is easily capable of HD playback, the ATI Radeon 3200; I'm not so sure of, but i did hear that it could playback 1080p video. Gameswise it is terrible; which could be a cause for concern in the future

Intergated graphics wars?

The Radeon HD 3200 actually isn't all that bad.  I'm using that IGP and I can play HL2 on high settings just fine.  Ofcourse, if you want to play hardcore new games, it's going to suck, but it's not like the 9400 will run Crysis Warhead for you either.

Will easily decode your 1080p... assuming your 1080p is DXVA supported, otherwise your CPU will choke.

Here is a comparison of the HD3200 (labeled as AMD 780G, which is the chipset it comes with) vs 9400M.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3432&p=4

Assassinator Wrote:I'm using that IGP and I can play HL2 on high settings just fine.  Ofcourse, if you want to play hardcore new games, it's going to suck, but it's not like the 9400 will run Crysis Warhead for you either.

My GeForce can handle all of the Source engine games on high settings no problem. I ca even run GTA 4 at medium settings with very minimal lag. Cysis however is beyond what my computer can handle. IMO, it was made to whore gaming computers.

Joomla12 Wrote:

Assassinator Wrote:I'm using that IGP and I can play HL2 on high settings just fine.  Ofcourse, if you want to play hardcore new games, it's going to suck, but it's not like the 9400 will run Crysis Warhead for you either.

My GeForce can handle all of the Source engine games on high settings no problem. I ca even run GTA 4 at medium settings with very minimal lag. Cysis however is beyond what my computer can handle. IMO, it was made to whore gaming computers.

9400M?  Well, 9400M IS better, not trying to dispute that.  (Actually, I just recently overclocked my IGP from 500 » 750MHz, so it's possibly faster than 9400M now).

If you're talking about a dedicated GPU... wow, you can beat integrated, big achievement right there.  Go beat V1, he has a GTX 295.

2GHz Core 2 > AthlonX2 2.1GHz.
L2 cache helps if you've got a number of applications which constantly use a fair bit of memory.  As far as the CPU cares, reading from RAM is incredibly slow, which is what the cache is there for.
DDR2 800MHz is probably faster than DDR3 1066MHz as newer standards typically have lower clockspeeds, but higher multipliers to make it look faster.  However speed difference is probably small.


I personally don't see why people like the aluminium casing.  How is it actually better?  Looks cooler/feels better?  IMO all it does is add weight.  For most circumstances, this additional layer probably doesn't give any extra protection over a plastic coating.  The coating doesn't help hinges.  Dropping it will still cause a lot of shock to the HDD.  Perhaps the only thing I can think of is scratch protection, if people around you tend to handle sharp objects near your laptop...

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:2GHz Core 2 > AthlonX2 2.1GHz.
L2 cache helps if you've got a number of applications which constantly use a fair bit of memory.  As far as the CPU cares, reading from RAM is incredibly slow, which is what the cache is there for.

Yeah, but you don't compare how fast CPUs are by how much L2 cache they have... that's like retarded.

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:I personally don't see why people like the aluminium casing.  How is it actually better?  Looks cooler/feels better?  IMO all it does is add weight.  For most circumstances, this additional layer probably doesn't give any extra protection over a plastic coating.  The coating doesn't help hinges.  Dropping it will still cause a lot of shock to the HDD.  Perhaps the only thing I can think of is scratch protection, if people around you tend to handle sharp objects near your laptop...

Looks better.

And like steel desktop boxes, there's probably also the heat reason - metal helps transmit heat better (especially if it's connected to your inside frame), plastic just traps it inside.